Name: Vermicelli Soup
Ingredients: 1 knuckle of lamb; 1 small piece of veal; Water to cover; Salt to taste; Pepper to taste; Herbs to taste; 1 small onion; 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce; ¼ pound vermicelli

Why it works: Pepper and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 68,474 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Vermicelli Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

In a pot, cover the knuckle of lamb and veal with water and cook until tender.
Season the broth with salt, pepper, herbs, and the small onion.
Add Worcestershire sauce to the broth.

Assemble and serve

Boil the vermicelli in a separate pot until tender, then strain.
Combine the strained soup with the cooked vermicelli and let it boil well.
Serve hot.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Lamb + peppertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,165 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Lamb + vealtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together568 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Lamb + oniontop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,407 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Veal + oniontop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together6,841 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Knuckle of lamb: Provides rich flavor and body to the broth as it cooks down.
Veal: Adds gelatin and savory depth to the broth during slow cooking.
Vermicelli: Forms the soft noodles that give the soup its main texture.
Worcestershire sauce: Adds tangy, savory depth that rounds out the broth's flavor.